Bounty
by eeveekitty85
Summary: Sometimes unlikely things happen to people. The point is that they happen. What happens when hunters become the hunted? Definitely AU but give it a chance, it might surprise you! Some 9Rose, R&R pweeeze
1. Blood

**Bounty Part One**

**Notes: **The fic I never thought I'd write, but knew I had to…inspired by many like it in the Pokemon section. I really hope you guys read this with an open mind and mot importantly, enjoy it. Reviews would be really welcome because the only way I'm going to get any better is through feedback.

This fic is dedicated to Uh.yeah! It's all for her to prove that if anyone's the stalker, it's me! (shifty eyes) Anyway, she's been a regular star as far as reviewing goes, like quite a few of you loyal regulars.

But this is for Uh.yeah…the lovely Claire from Angleterre.

The most unlikely things happen to the most unlikely people. The point is that they happen.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Jack, where are you?" shouted the Doctor at his phone as he wrestled with the TARDIS controls. The sound of a car engine could be heard through the phone as Jack's voice boomed out, heard on the most advanced speaker phone of the time. Only the best for the TARDIS.

And the time? 2010.

On the planet Persot.

Jack pushed the car up a gear, ramming the acceleration pedal into the floor. "I'm on his tail Doc. There's no way we're losing this one."

The Doctor heard shots being fired.

"Still with me Jack?" he yelled, pulling a lever.

"Of course. I just shot his tyres."

"Coordinates?"

"23/71/47."

"Got him."

Jack got out of the car he'd hired for the trip and prepared to chase if needs be. The car wasn't unlike Earth cars, although technically he shouldn't have been calling it a car. They had another name for the vehicles here. It was smooth and streamlined, and looked more like an advanced plane with wheels instead of wings.

He dodged the bullets the man sent his way and soon heard the throbbing hum of the TARDIS drawing nearer.

When I say that the man Jack was chasing had black skin, I mean black skin. His face and hands were so jet black than his eyes looked a pure bright white, even though they were much the same colour as Jack's. Although this man was alien, and had no coloured iris.

Jack heard the click of n empty chamber and the man flung his gun to the floor, running right into the materialising TARDIS. He went straight through the wall in its translucent state and gaped around him in wonder at the massive interior until the Doctor struck him heavily over the head.

Jack flung open the doors of the now solid TARDIS. "Yes!" he cried, punching the air.

"We got him," said the Doctor, grinning. He ripped off the guy's jacket and felt in the pockets. "And here it is."

"The Persot Maxwell Zirconia." Jack whistled as he saw the glittering, clear gem. "What a beauty."

"They're only offering a bounty for the man y'know," said the Doctor, his eyes glinting. "Sure, there's a reward for the rock too, but…" He trailed off.

"How much could we get for it?" asked Jack at once.

"Don't know yet," admitted the Doctor. "If it's more than the reward I'm flogging it."

"Good, good," said Jack, rubbing his hands together. "I'll deal with him." He retrieved a pair of handcuffs from the top of the console.

"Now nothing kinky, OK?" said the Doctor. "Just dump him in a closet and come straight back here."

"Huh," was Jack's only response as he clicked the handcuffs into place. "We'd better get a lot of money for him."

"20,000 credits Jack," said the Doctor as he set their next course. "Just repeating that sum over and over to yourself and you'll get by without your wicked ways."

"That's what you think," said Jack as he began dragging the unconscious form away. "But I know that before long you'll be begging for me to have my wicked way with you."

"Keep dreaming, Jack my lad," said the Doctor dryly.

A computer beeped merrily at him, telling him he had mail. He opened it, whistling to himself. He sat himself down and hit play.

"_Hello there Doctor, Jack._"

"Hello Rodger," said the Doctor, reaching under a hollow panel of the TARDIS for something alcoholic.

"_We have a new target, with a fat bounty attached to it. And when I say it, I mean it. We haven't identified their sex yet, if they have one, but I can't imagine that'll hinder you two that much, particularly Jack._"

The Doctor grinned. Rodger was an old friend of Jack's, a Time Agent working undercover as a member of the Earth police, someone that he could truly trust. Rodger was funnily enough, not qualified to be a policeman, although he'd been given a high position thanks to the fake resume that he'd been given. He needed to keep his job, but couldn't actually do it.

That was where they came in, the Doctor and Jack. Rodger gave them tips when he was stuck…and when the police were offering rewards for capture or information.

And as a Time Agent, he could also give tips on alien criminals to give the travellers the diversity they were accustomed to.

In short, they were bounty hunters, and Rodger was their informant.

"_The pictures are too blurry. They're attached to this message. This one is a murderer, so it's not surprising really that they're offering the equivalent of 60,000 credits. I think you should concentrate on this one Doctor, it should be pretty easy._"

"A murderer?"

"_They didn't murder anyone particularly important before you get any crazy rescue ideas Doctor. It was Mickey something. An Earth man._"

The Doctor sat up straight. "Mickey something?"

"_Our killer is now on the run we presume, still on Earth. England. London. I'll send you the coordinates where they were last seen. The rest is up to you._"

The message ended there just as Jack returned, dusting off his hands.

"We have a new target, an 'it' apparently," said the Doctor, lazily reaching over to open the pictures. "Take a look at these."

Jack leant over him to peer at the blurry pictures. They were obviously captured by some form of CCTV, showing a figure leaving an apartment block.

"Female," he said immediately. "Look at those hips!"

"Rodger couldn't identify it." The Doctor raised an eyebrow but Jack was unconcerned.

"Rodger's an old man Doctor!" he said. "We're after a woman."

"A woman who murdered a Mickey," said the Doctor thoughtfully, trying to zoom in on the person's face. 'Her' face was in complete shadow due to the thick coat hood pulled over her head. Jack looked at him.

"A Mickey?" He thought for a moment. "As in the Idiot?"

The Doctor sighed. "Mickey something from London. Rodger didn't go into specifics." He rubbed his head. "Didn't think it was that important."

"It isn't." Jack shrugged. "There are thousands of Mickeys. One of them was unlucky."

"Seems so. 60,000 credits."

Jack whistled, then rubbed his hands together gleefully. "So, do I get to use the charm?"

The Doctor gave a long, theatrical groan. "If you must. And then when you fail we'll think of a better plan, OK?"

"I won't fail!" cried Jack. "There's no sentient being alive that I can't woo." He threw a look the Doctor's way. "Even you, dear Doctor." The Doctor met his glance and held it, his cold blue eyes showing no emotion whatsoever. Then he looked away.

"You wish Jack," he said hoarsely.

"I know." Jack made no attempt to touch the older man, just kept his gaze trained on him. The Doctor's neck prickled uncomfortably. This was one of the negative things about travelling alone with Jack. There would always be these moments, quiet seconds of awkwardness. The Doctor had no doubt in his mind what Jack wanted from their relationship, and even less doubt that it would never happen.

He slapped his hands together roughly, breaking the moment.

"So let's get cracking!" he cried, grinning.

_**On a day like today  
I looked at you and I  
Saw something in the way  
You stared into the sky  
**_

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Her heart pounded as she scrubbed at her eyes, trying to somehow wash the images away. Water gushed into her sink. She turned the tap onto full blast, trying to drown out the screaming.

She hadn't expected him to scream.

Her hands shook like they had when she'd held the gun in them. It was supposed to be quick, but the first bullet had missed, striking his thigh.

Of all the people in London, it had to be Mickey Smith that had pissed Mert off.

And of all the aliens there were in the galaxy, it had to be Mert that she owed a favour.

She should have said _no_.

Five years ago, she would have died herself to save Mickey, to save any human being. But that was five years ago. She'd changed a lot since then.

Rose Tyler was a murderer.

Even the TARDIS couldn't turn the clock back on that one.

She dried her face and hands and grabbed her shabby jacket. She retched. The thick coat stank of blood.

"What the hell have I done?" she wondered.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"This is not an excuse for you to indulge," warned the Doctor in his ear.

"Yeah yeah," muttered Jack. He was wearing an earpiece and a miniscule microphone taped to his chest.

"Just have a scout around the apartment block then get back to the TARDIS. No pub crawling."

"You're no fun." Jack pouted, even though the Doctor couldn't see him. He reached a sort of courtyard, surrounded by towering concrete. "Doctor…this looks awfully familiar."

Back in the TARDIS, he checked the coordinates Rodger had given them earlier. "The coordinates don't ring a bell."

"Why don't you take a look then?" asked Jack. He got out his mobile phone and took a picture of his surroundings, sending it back to the Doctor.

"Wait a sec…" The Doctor paused. "That looks like…"

"It looks like we're in Rose's territory," completed Jack.

_**I saw you were sick  
And tired of my wrong turns  
If you only knew the way I feel  
I'd really love to tell you **_

The Doctor had fallen silent. "Doc? You want to carry on or not?"

He sighed. "60,000 credits Jack. We can't pass on that."

Jack frowned. "I thought you did it for the adventure. For the justice. Capturing dangerous criminals…"

"I do," said the Doctor quickly. "But I can't say no to a little more spending money."

"You can get all the money you want with the screwdriver," persisted Jack. "Why are we doing this Doctor? Really?"

Another silence hung in the air.

"Just do your job Jack, and I'll do mine."

Jack sighed. The one question the Doctor would never answer: why are you doing this? It was all the same to Jack. To him, bringing criminals to justice offered exploration and a few adrenaline rushes, much like saving worlds. But for the Doctor it was the exploring, the freedom…being a bounty hunter was almost like a job.

Why did he need a job?

Jack gave up and looked around him. Deserted, except for a dark haired woman making her way along the balcony, several floors up. She had a thick coat rolled up under her arm.

_It's summer_, thought Jack. _Why does she have…?_

He ran for the stairs. He was going so fast he almost knocked the girl over. Her hair fell over her face as Jack drew his blaster.

"Don't move," he warned.

"Jack, I said no guns!" hissed the Doctor. "I don't like guns!" Jack turned the earpiece off.

The woman raised her face defiantly, staring right at the gun, and then at Jack.

His eyes met hers.

"Rose? What the hell have you done?"

_**But I could never seem to say the things I needed to  
On a day like today no other words would do  
**_

……………………………………………………………………………………………

I know it seemed like that moved a little quickly, but there'll be flashbacks and stuff as we get into the main story. I promise it'll flesh out a bit, but my aim was not to create a lot of suspense while they try and find each other. Once they're together, the real story can begin!

Please review. Pretty please? You know you want to!


	2. One More Knife

**Bounty Part Two**

**Notes: **Some nice little flashbacks and more pretty songs. And may I say I cried out with happiness when I saw all the wonderful reviews you guys have left for me! I'm astounded that this has obviously grabbed your interest, and I'm so very very happy!

**Immi: **Ah! So glad to see you back my dear! Thankee sankee…I try my best…;) Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sands of Patience: **Blimey that's a long name! Oh thank you…like I said, this kind of plot is almost common in the Pokemon world and I thought it would work! I'm also trying EXTRA hard with my description, so you said exactly what I wanted to hear! Don't worry, that's explained in this very chapter. Thanks for reviewing, hope you stick with me! They call me Sticky Eevee…I stick to my friends and my friends stick to me!

**Dingbatt: **Aww, I luffles you too! I hope you continue to squeal as my little plot unfurls its wings.

**Banshee: **Oh, I hope so! I'm excited too…and so glad I'll have your support! I love Pokemon 2005, it's an excellent fic, and if I can make this one half as good…overt 9Rose? Well…(grins)…wait and see my dear…

**Dory Shotgun: **Thank you for reviewing there! Hopefully I answer some questions with this chapter, and hopefully you're still reading! I really do appreciate your review…I know some people without accounts feel they don't have to review, but any feedback is welcomed with hugging arms y'know!

**Cossie: **Ah, well, that'll be explained as we go on my dear. There are a few reasons why he'd choose to do it. I'm glad I grabbed your interest…yay yay yay, people like it!

**Cloud: **I know! It's so shocking…well, some of the banter between Jack and the Doctor was supposed to let off my humorous steam…I want to be able to write something a little more serious. But you know me…incapable of complete seriousnessnessness…

……………………………………………………………………………………………

_Rose was frustrated, her face red, but the Doctor was doing his best to ignore her._

"_Seven years is long enough!" she yelled. He turned his face towards her. It was full of a deep sadness she had only seen in him when he talked of Gallifrey._

"_I have so much left to show you," he said tenderly, trying to take her hand. But Rose wrenched it away from his grasp._

"_My mum is dying," she pleaded, her eyes filling with tears. "She has _cancer _Doctor. Cancer! Do you even understand that?"_

"_Of course I do," he said amiably. "And I'll take you home. I care too much about you to keep you here against your will."_

"_Then why are you hesitating?" she asked, holding his gaze. He turned his face away._

"_Rose, is this for good?" he asked quietly. "Is this decision permanent or do you want us to come back?"_

_Jack suddenly entered the conversation, unable to stay silent a moment longer. "It'll be so lonely without you Rosie!" he burst out. She smiled at him._

"_You too," she said softly. She sighed. "I don't know. I don't know what I want. I know that if I leave you for good…I couldn't bear never seeing you both again."_

"_It's mutual Rose," the Doctor assured her, suddenly realising how close he was to losing her. He desperately needed to get his point across. "I don't want you to—"_

"_But if I don't make this final, how can I concentrate on mum?" she continued, talking more to herself than them. She turned her face back towards them. "How would you feel if someone you loved was hanging around out of pity and would be gone the moment you kicked the proverbial bucket?"_

_The Doctor couldn't answer her straight away. "She…might pull through." He was grasping at straws now and he knew it._

"_All the more reason for me to stay with her," she said. "I love you both, and this is hard…but I've had my adventures now. I need to put family first. It's time for me to go back." She smiled up at the Doctor. "Even we can't cheat time forever."_

_Jack rushed forwards and claimed her with a hug. "Blood is thicker than water, Rose," he whispered in her ear. "You need to be there for your mom."_

_She looked back to the Doctor, thinking she would see sadness and anger, hoping for acceptance._

_His eyes were totally cold._

"_Pack your stuff," he said._

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"God Rose…what the hell have you done?"

She glared at him defiantly but realised he'd seen the coat. She struggled to her feet.

"Shoot me then," she said. Jack put the blaster away.

"As if I could," he said, shocked. This was not the Rose they'd left behind. Everything about her was so different. Jack paused, trying to take it all in.

One of the biggest shocks was her hair. _Whichever hairdresser had cut it ought to be sued_, Jack though grimly. It was cut into a short, messy style that barely brushed her shoulders. It had also changed dramatically in colour, from bright blonde to ashy, dusty brown. It still waved like it used to, but lay flat to her head, lifeless.

Her eyes looked different too. They were dull and cold instead of their warm brown. Her face was devoid of make up and she was pale and tired looking, dark circles shadowing her eyes.

She was still Rose. She would always be Rose. But now it was just a word. Everything that had made up her bright, outgoing look had gone. The person glaring at Jack now was more new stranger than old friend.

"What are you doing here Jack? I have enough to deal with without you and the Doctor messing things up for me," she said coldly, bundling up the coat to hide the stains of blood.

"I think you've done a good job of messing things up yourself," Jack pointed out, not unkindly.

"S'my life," she said airily, brushing past him in an attempt to leave. He grabbed her wrist. "Let go Jack!"

"I can't do that," he replied simply. "You're not the only one who changed."

Rose took in his steely glare and the ever-present threat of the blaster in his pocket. "I get it. You're a bounty hunter."

Jack didn't confirm her guess, but she knew she was right. "Going to turn me in Jack?" she asked indifferently.

"Would you like me to?" he shot right back. Rose looked confused.

"What do you think?" she snarled sarcastically.

"I think everything about you so far is screaming for a way out, Rose Tyler," he stated. "You're not the only one who's good at guessing. You're coming back to the TARDIS."

"I'll do no such thing," she said, trying to prise his fingers away from her wrist. He held fast and began dragging her away, regardless of her protests. The coat was dropped, forgotten, as he shoved her inside what she'd once been able to call home.

It wasn't home anymore.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

_Rose was laughing as she saw his film choice. "Phantom of the Opera? I thought you were all about science fiction! This is almost _romance_!"_

"_It is science fiction! There's a phantom!" he protested, but he'd chosen that film on purpose. It was almost a romance. In particular one song, one song that he thought was perfect._

_Tonight was the night. Time to shut up that arrogant little voice in his head that said he was a coward._

_They watched in silence, just sat with each other on the worn out sofa. Occasionally Rose offered comments on the costumes or singing and the Doctor reassured her it was even more spectacular in real life, which made her laugh, not quite knowing if he was teasing or not._

**_Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation  
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination  
Silently the senses abandon their defences_**

_He tensed. This was the song. He waited._

_**Let your mind start a journey through a strange, new world**_

_**Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before  
**_

_Rose sat, entranced. The lyrics were so beautiful, so simple…She glanced at the Doctor, who was staring straight ahead. Suddenly he took her hand. And looked right at her._

_Looked right _into _her._

**_Let your soul take you where you long to be_**

Say it! Say it now! _urged the little voice in his head._

_**  
Only then can you belong to me**_

_He looked at his Rose, waiting expectantly._

"_Doctor?" _

_He swallowed._

_And froze._

……………………………………………………………………………………………

He had to do everything in his power not to clutch his head and cry out in confusion.

_Rose? Rose? Here? Now?_

His mind was buzzing as he listened to Jack talking to the young woman he'd parted with five years back.

_I thought I lost her._

Correction. He did lose her. But through no fault of his own, no fault of Rose's. No fault but human stupidity.

That said, even he had been unable to offer Jackie a cure. Even if he had, would things be different now? He doubted it. Rose would still have gone home eventually. He couldn't have prevented her.

_Liar._

He put his head in his hands. It was a lie.

_You think you're so brave. You're not. You couldn't even say three little words that would have changed everything._

I love you.

**_For love makes a fool of me  
For love makes a part of us  
You know it's worthless  
As worthless can be_**

_And now look at her._

She'd made such a mess of her life.

_Maybe you made a mess of yours._

It was true. He'd screwed up again. He'd lost sight of

_what's important? When did you stop being about adventure, justice, freedom?_

When had he stopped being about Rose?

The TARDIS doors were opening. He could _hear _her. He clamped his mouth shut to stop him crying out, saying everything.

_You'll just lose her again. You'll scare her away. This is your chance to put things right._

He didn't want to look miserable, stern, excited, happy…nothing seemed right. Nothing fitted.

Left with no other feelings to express, he decided on indifference.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Rose Tyler had no home, no anchor. She kidded herself that she liked living like that, but it was killing her. Every second she spent alone in the flat she and Jackie had once shared was a knife in her chest.

And meeting the Doctor as she was bundled into the TARDIS, his eyes as indifferent and unresponsive as hers, was just one more knife.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Please review! Shall we?

Crawdie: If you're about to suggest something dodgy…

No no! Let's put on some loud, evil music and do our Dalek voices!

Both: REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW OR BE POLLINATED!


	3. Death

**Bounty Part Three**

**Notes: **A long chapter but I didn't really want to split it up. Serious mood swings in this one. Let's just say Rose has a bone to pick. It's a big bone.

**Immi: **Blink Immi, blink! No blinking equals eyeball drying! But I'm glad you're so eager!

**Dingbatt: **Yes, yes, I think he always was.

**Becsy: **OH MY GOSH! Those reviews…were so awesome I think I must have died half way through in complete happiness. It's OK to be sceptical, but I'm glad I convinced you in the end. You're right, those questions WILL be answered and if they're not, you can slap me with a wet noodle. You're right, Mickey definitely didn't deserve to die because (as you'll see in this chapter) he was doing the right thing. Yeah, Jack's got more suggestive, maybe even sleazy, but should revert back to everyone's fave big brother type in this chapter. I think he has to because Rose is back, and now he DEFINITELY doesn't have a chance with the good Doctor. I'm glad you liked the flashbacks! Music of the night is the most BEAUTIFUL song, especially the way our chamber choir do it…that one line…'only then will you belong to me' sends shivers down my spine every single time we sing it. Rose is very messed up and lost. I don't think she really knows what she wants now because she's lost so much. On the one hand she's sick and tired of the kind of life she's been leading but she also wouldn't want to settle down. Then there's the Doctor, and he's changed, and she's all confused…anyway, thank you for your reviews. They really got me thinking about where I want to take this story. Let's hope it goes in the right direction, eh?

**Banshee: **I'm glad you think so Banshee! You are so so sweet…on your faves and you're not even a Whovian! That's why I aime you so much…I do I do I do!

**Dory Shotgun: **Yes…and about to become even more intense…yeah, that irritates me. I dunno, people seem so desperate, and maybe I am too, but if you're not gonna let people review! I did have anon reviews blocked at one point but I got some really nasty flames, so at least I had a reason. But now they're back, and I'm really glad I decided to do so, because I love hearing from YOU!

**Sands of Patience: **Aww…tears? For me? Why thank you. I think it's very easy to make people laugh with a fic, but it's really difficult to make them cry! Yay! Goodo, we'll stick with each other then.

**My Poor Jessie: **Oh dear oh dear oh dear! This is a pickle…because I reckon there'll be more romance to come! What does AU stand for? Ninth Doctor. I'm glad you're overcoming your romance obstacles because I love hearing from you. Oh, I've never seen Phantom but I love that song. We sing it in chamber choir…beautiful lyrics…Yes, she's a bad guy, and for a little bit longer if I can help it!

**Cossie: **Awww…(hands tissue) More crying! For me! In newspapers…heck, that would be interesting. Cossie, you rock, you know it, I aime you, I show it.

**Loretta Thesane: **Yeah…I like twisting up characters…thank you, thank you, very much obliged.

**Uh.yeah: **YES! FOR YOU! Why, I hear you ask? Because you rock my dear. You rock. You're an awesome reviewer and I need you! Without you…well…I wouldn't smile nearly as much as I do. Which goes for all of you guys really…if it weren't for you I'd probably shrivel up and die somewhere.

**Ferntree: **What an excellent name…yeah, different is what I'm really going for. Whereas in the Pokemon world this would be almost normal, which goes to show how weird fanfic is really. Thanks for your review my dear!

**Dr Azaria: **Yes! The fearsome pollination! Thank you, thank you…all of those points make me beam with pride. I'm so happy!

**Cloud: **Worship me…anyway, thanks for your review my dear little Cloud! Stella doesn't have to be in ALL of my fics! She's not in this one…in fact, she may never be in another fic! Two sequels is enough I think. But thanks for your support all the same.

Lota long notes there, and a long chappie for ya, so get cracking!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

The familiar whooshing, breathing noise of the TARDIS filled her ears.

_**Is this the place we used to love?  
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of? **_

"Found her," said Jack awkwardly, swinging his arms.

The Doctor and Rose regarded each other.

"Say something then," said Rose, glaring at him.

"Welcome back," he replied. He smiled faintly then remembered why she was there. "You killed Mickey," he blurted.

Rose's composure threatened to crack, so she refused to answer.

"Why did you kill him?" he continued.

"Because he was an idiot," she replied harshly. "Where's my room?"

"Where is always was," said the Doctor stiffly. He knew he would get nothing from Rose for the moment, even though the angry glances he was getting from Jack told him he was supposed to try harder. But interrogating his best friend was not something he was mentally prepared for. Even a few seconds talking to Rose now had left him feeling drained.

As Rose swept away, he reflected on the very evident walls she'd built around herself. He wondered if he'd be able to do anything about that. More to the point, he wondered if he'd done the same to himself.

_**Oh simple thing where have you gone  
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on  
So tell me when you're gonna let me in  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin  
**_

"That was pathetic," announced Jack. "You let her walk all over you."

"Trample me more like," he agreed. "She's not what I was expecting."

"Well deal with it! Because pretty soon you're gonna have to decide whether to turn her in or not," he countered fiercely. The Doctor didn't reply straight away.

"How can I turn her in Jack?" he asked. "She's not worth the money. She's worth so much more to me."

Jack smiled, a huge grin that made his eyes crinkle. "Right answer. We can't do that to her. We promised a long time ago to protect her."

"We screwed that up," noted the Doctor.

"But we'll fix it," Jack assured him. He walked over to him and flung an arm around his shoulder. "We have a man in the cupboard who needs dropping off!"

"Aye aye Captain," teased the Doctor, glancing one last time at the monitor showing the outside world. Nothing was stirring in the court except litter.

_**And if you have a minute why don't we go  
Talk about it somewhere only we know?  
This could be the end of everything  
So why don't we go  
Somewhere only we know?  
**_

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Rose sat on the edge of the bed, her shoulders hunched. She would not let herself cry about Mickey. That was done, over. She'd had it with cheating time.

She was certainly not going to cry over the Doctor. That was over too.

_Liar._

He looked the same as ever, exactly how she'd remembered, all except his eyes. His eyes were different somehow.

Maybe on the inside he was as closed up and hollow as she felt.

_They don't understand what I went through alone._

_Neither of them understand!_ Rose hit the pillow hard.

_I watched my mother slowly die. I reduced myself to scrounging a lift with a no good alien freak. Then I decided I wanted out and consequently had to repay him. Then I killed my ex boyfriend._

_That concludes today's episode of 'Rose's Life'._

She hated being back in the TARDIS because it made her feel safe. It made her feel happy. She could feel the ice around her heart melting, and it made her angry because she'd worked hard on freezing it. Things didn't hurt so much if you were numb.

Now it was beginning to ache.

**_Bitter and hardened heart  
Aching, waiting for life to start  
Meet me in the morning when you wake up  
Meet me in the morning then you'll wake up  
_**

She felt the TARDIS shudder into life, rocking slightly as it sped through the empty space between here and…there.

_Probably a police station._

They'd have to turn her in eventually, like it or not. She was a murderer now, cold blooded, brutal. She deserved punishing. The Doctor was a righteous man, Jack too.

She had no reason to expect their loyalty anymore.

But when the TARDIS stopped and no one came to drag her away, Rose let herself relax. She looked around her. The room wasn't pink anymore, but all the furniture was the same.

She looked at the table beside her bed. There was a photograph lying on it, face down, so she picked it up. It was a photo of her and the Doctor, taken by Jack. She could tell because there was a white smudge where the shutterbug had put his finger over the lens. Neither of them were looking at the camera, they were laughing at some joke.

Smiling at each other.

Holding each others' hands.

She slammed the photo down.

"That is _not _me," she said fiercely, feeling her eyes grow hot with unshed tears.

"Then tell me who you are," said the Doctor's calm voice from the doorway. She slowly turned her head to look at him, angry that he'd been able to get so close without her noticing.

"All that counts," she snarled, mimicking him down to his hand gestures as she spoke some familiar lines. "Is here and now. And this is me!"

"Liar," he said lazily, sitting down next to her. "It's a front. You're a lie."

"Aren't you?" she asked, glaring at him. He was not getting away lightly.

He fixed his eyes on her. "Yeah, maybe I am." He lay back on the bed, pretending to be at ease. "But I'm better at hiding it than you."

"I don't care. I don't care if you think this is a front," she lied.

"Complete fiction, as our Editor friend would say," he said merrily, putting his arms under his head. Rose bit her lip to stop herself smiling.

"Don't," she said. "Don't talk about it."

"Struck a nerve?" He sat up again and scrutinised her. "You're so different. Your hair looks nice."

"Liar," she said, letting her guard down just long enough to laugh. "It's hideous, I know. But I needed to stop being me."

"Clean break, eh?" he guessed. They sat in silence for a moment. "I'm sorry about your mother." She didn't reply. He bent down slightly so his face was level with hers. "And I'm sorry about what you went through."

"Sorry doesn't make it better."

"I know it doesn't."

_**Well it's a lonely road that you have chosen  
Morning comes and you don't want to know me anymore  
And it's a long time since your heart was frozen  
Morning comes and you don't want to know me anymore  
For a moment your eyes open and you know  
All the things I ever wanted you to know  
I don't know you, and I don't want to  
Till the moment your eyes open and you know **_

Suddenly the TARDIS groaned and lurched to one side, flinging the Doctor off the bed. He sat up, rubbing his elbow. "Hmm. That isn't suppose to happen." He grinned at Rose. "Want to come and watch me yell at Jack for breaking things?"

"Tempting," said Rose dryly.

"Come on high-and-mighty," he said affectionately, practically dragging her back to the control room, where Jack was looking very anxious. The Doctor winked at Rose then put on a stern face.

"Jack Harkness, what have you done to my ship?" he asked.

"Captain Jack," he corrected him distractedly. "And I have no idea. We were just pulling away from the station when…" He made a theatrical groan and leant sideways. The Doctor pushed past him to get at the console, staring at a monitor.

"We've been pulled of course all right," he noted, his eyebrows shooting up. "A billion light years off. We're orbiting some godforsaken rock called…" He read out the name. "Mertopia. Catchy."

Rose froze.

"Good grief, it's more like an asteroid than a planet," said the Doctor. "One little town and that's it." Jack leant over and pushed a few buttons.

"That's pretty advanced tech for a godforsaken rock, Doctor." He glanced at Rose, who was standing silently and separate some metres away. "We're talking almost TARDIS tech."

The Doctor made a disbelieving noise as he surveyed the results of Jack's scan. "Nowhere near."

"Nearer than anything else we've seen," argued Jack. "And close enough to pull us off course." He grinned at Rose. "Good job we dropped off the criminal because I think we'll be here for a while."

Rose leant against one of the coral-like pillars, looking very pale. They looked at her, worried.

"Rose, I didn't mean _you_ by 'the criminal' or anything…" said Jack meekly, feeling guilty.

"Rose, are you OK? D'you want to sit down or something?" cut in the Doctor, moving closer to her in case she fainted.

"No, I'm fine," she insisted, pushing her hair back with one hand. He grabbed it and held it still.

"Rose, what's _that_?" he asked, staring at what appeared to be a white tattoo on her scalp. He reached out and brushed his fingers over it; she jerked her head away but he'd already got the confirmation he needed. "That's a scar. Someone chipped you?"

"It's a tracker," she said, sounding tired. "I was supposed to have it removed soon, after…" She stopped abruptly but they'd heard enough to fill in the gaps.

"After you killed Mickey," finished Jack, staring at her. "Who fitted that tracker?"

Rose laughed bitterly. "Who do you think? Mert Klaxotsi the Fourth, emperor of Metopia. He's got a serious ego problem so he named his planet after himself."

"And you owed him a favour," said the Doctor. He dropped Rose's hand and began to pace, thinking aloud. "He did something for you and obviously Mickey gave his usual 'Most Irritating' impression, so Mert Klaxotsi wanted him dead. So he used you simply because you're a human and could get to him without bother, I presume we are talking alien here?"

Rose nodded. "Four arms, red skin, stupid beard."

"I know Mert!" said Jack suddenly. "I met him once and never want to again. He's a Praztof, a dying breed thank God. They heated up their planet so much the ones who didn't die had to find somewhere else to go. Mert was exiled and sent off by himself for crimes against the Emperor, so I guess he made himself one to compensate."

"But how did Mickey meet a Praztof?" asked the Doctor. "And more importantly, how did _you two _meet one?"

"Conned him," said Jack simply.

"Similar," confessed Rose. "I was lucky. He pretty much turned up on my doorstep a year after you left." She sighed deeply. "God, it was like the Slitheen all over again, but on a much smaller scale. I think I was one of the only ones who found it."

"Except Mickey," said the Doctor softly.

"He got in the way!" she blurted out. "He kept saying I should turn Mert in to the authorities, said someone else should know. Mert saw him as a threat. I guess he was." She took a deep, ragged breath. "So I killed him. For doing the right thing."

"Funny how often that happens," remarked Jack. "Where did you find his ship?"

"I said didn't I? Right on my doorstep…It was the courtyard where the TARDIS always materialised. He hadn't crashed or anything, it was just stood there. I heard the engines and thought it might be you. Mickey said…" She stopped. "Enough?"

"For now," said the Doctor sternly. "You can't…"

"Don't tell me what I can't do," she said, her eyes flashing angrily.

"Just to get back on course here…" Jack changed the subject quicklybefore they started arguing properly. "The tracker. Mert can see exactly where she is. He wants her, stat."

"Right. So we go to him," said the Doctor.

"He'll kill you," she said coolly. "Mert isn't some run-of-the-mill alien that you can scare away with your little sonic toys."

_**I hold you in cupped hands  
And shield you from a storm  
Where only some dumb idiot  
Would let you go**_

"I think I've killed enough people for one day, don't you?" she continued. "Here's what we do. You land me there and I go out, by myself. If he sees you helping me, a turncoat, you're as good as dead."

"You know full well we won't let you do that," said Jack, strolling over to the console again and preparing to take the TARDIS in to land. She slammed her hand down on the console, crushing his fingers.

"Are you really so _up yourselves _that you won't even listen to me now?" she raged, her cool composure blown to pieces. "You think you're both so gallant, locking up criminals and throwing away the key. It's not good enough! It won't work! I am _not _your little Rose anymore and you can't fight my battles for me!" Angry, hot tears blurred her vision. "It is _far too late _for you to start acting like you care!"

Jack stepped away, stung. "Of course we care—"

"_Then why did you let my mother die_?" she screamed, her throat raw.

There was a stunned silence, filled only by the steady hum of the TARDIS.

"You know full well there was nothing I could do for Jackie," said the Doctor evenly, trying not to show he was losing his temper. She knew nothing about him, not anymore. Maybe she hadn't know him then. And accusing him now of letting her mother die...

"_Liar!_" she screamed, crying properly now. "Mert told me, you idiot! Humans invent a cure for cancer in 2156." She slammed her hand down on the control panel, venting her anger as they looked on, stricken. Jack made an attempt to stop her beating up the TARDIS but realised this would just mean her beating up him instead. The Doctor just watched calmly, seemingly indifferent.

"What exactly did he tell you about this miracle drug?" he asked pleasantly.

"It doesn't _matter _what he told me! What matters is that _you lied_! You could have gone to that time. You have a _time machine_!" She stared straight at him. "You could have saved my mum and you did _nothing_."

He slammed his hand down next to hers. "Don't you _dare _talk to me like that! Don't you _dare_!"

Jack got the distinct impression he should be covering his more vulnerable parts.

Rose stepped away from the console, stunned, but not about to back down as the Doctor glared at her, red in the face. She hadn't seen him this angry for a very long time.

"There was no cure!" he yelled. "Mert is obviously a dimwit because the 'cure' was a complete fake."

Rose wasn't quite sure how to react. Was he lying? Had Mert lied? It seemed everyone was lying at the moment and she was having a tough time deciding who to believe.

"There are some things humans had to learn to live with," he said in a more normal voice. "One was the consequences of their irresponsible global warming, another was Barney the Dinosaur. Purple demon..." He twitched."Anyway...Another was cancer, although lots of people tried really hard to find something. You can't beat everything. Everything

"I came from the 51st century, and no one had an answer there either," offered Jack. "When you watch someone you love in pain, it's natural to want to help. You being with her was probably more help than you realise."

Rose scowled. "Don't patronize me Jack Harkness." She sighed, changing the subject. "OK, here's what we do. You drop me off."

"No," refused the Doctor. "No way. We all go or none at all. We stay long enough to get that tracker removed and then we leave." He looked at Rose. "Then you decide where we go next."

"You'll both be killed," she said. "And I'll be stuck there forever. That's where we're going."

The Doctor regarded her for a moment, then turned back to the console. "So be it."

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REVIEW OR BE POLLINATED!


	4. Mert's Demons

**Bounty Part Four**

**Notes: **I don't think overwhelmed is a strong enough word for it really. The response I'm getting is awe-inspiring. This chappie starts in a rather different tone than the others because we're going to get to see Mert! And, well, let's just say he's not what you were all expecting. Until he gets angry.

**Starlite: **Yeah, bored right in. And since Mert put it in, he's the only one with the facilities to take it out. Which kinda sucks really. The Doctor wouldn't try because he wouldn't want to hurt her. Hope you like this instalment my dear!

**Jessie: **Phew! Long reviews for this chappie…which I LOVE, so keep giving them! Thanks for the info on that mysterious AU. I guess it is really. I don't much like trying to fit stuff in. The Stella stories are AU too then, because the end of Jack's Agenda is meant to represent where the series ended (with the whole Time Vortex thing…not sure everyone got that though.) Lol, that be a long and grammatically incorrect word, but I get what you mean. Don't worry, I'll be doing some Doctor focused stuff soon so I hope I can get him properly IC, and I'm glad you liked my Jack! Nice theory with the Dalek thing, guess it woulda made more sense, but ah well. Well, I don't really want to give her a LEAVING story, I'd rather just leave the series there on a high point and you can al assume she continues to travel with them and lives a long and happy life. I can't keep on writing them forever! Keep giving the long reviews, I feed on them!

**Banshee: **Yeah! Feisty! Don't worry, in this very chapter you'll hopefully understand a little more how everything panned out with Mert and Rose, and learn a bit more about the man himself! Yeah, I love Keane…actually, if it weren't for them I wouldn't have so much inspiration for this story!

**Ferntree: **Oh good! Keep reviewing my dear…

**Uh.yeah: **Just keep on giving reviews like that and you'll certainly live up to it! It's OK, you not being able to explain is such a huge compliment in itself! I know…it's just so awful…but the way I've constructed this story is with flashbacks, so we might get one from Mickey and what he was feeling too…creepy eh…Lol, I have to have humour! Humour is my life! And he is a purple demon…hope this is soon enough for you.

**Dingbatt: **Oh…breathe…breathe in…breath out…there, much better! Thank you for reviewing!

**Ark Led: **Oh, don't mention it, I'm glad you didn't flame! Thank you for having so much faith in me…Do continue to waffle!

**Sands of Patience: **I'm glad you all seem to have picked up on that…however cold Rose seems, at heart she's still friends with them. I don't think you can just stop being friends with someone, not if the friendship was true enough to start with.

**Immi: **Good! We're improving then! Yeah, she's emailed me a couple of times, why?

**Becsy: **What can I say Becsy? You've understood this story so perfectly and made me understand it a little better too, which is bloody impressive! You've got me thinking much more deeply about this fic, and I'm sure it'll have an impact on my future stories too. In short, you've done exactly what reviewers should: improved my writing. And I think, for that, I'll be eternally grateful. I will not forget you. If I publish…I'll look back on these fics and find you and PUT A LITTLE NOTE IN THE FRONT TO YOU! ;) You can hold me to that one!

**Dr Azaria: **Meh, in joke. Something me and my friends came up with…it's not a competition! I value every single review as highly as the others! You are another who's really understood this fic, and made me think more deeply about it too. Yep, evil plot is in the bag. Mert may seem pathetic but he's got some demons…everyone has their demons…

_When I counted up my demons_

_Saw there was one for every day_

_With the good ones on my shoulder_

_I chased the other ones away_—Coldplay

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Mert was thinking again, which his advisors (they were not friends, Mert was too generally nasty for friends) knew was their cue to leave. Which left our red skinned, four armed, stupid bearded alien alone with his demons.

He's sent for the girl. He wasn't even that sure what her name was anymore, so that was something he'd have to check with the proper authorities. The sad truth of it all was that Mert was a puppet ruler, put there by higher powers to distract attention away from them. What they wanted with a godforsaken little rock like Mertopia was anyone's guess.

However, anyone _smart_ would have figured out it was not Mertopia they wanted, but the third planet in a very small and dull solar system, billions of light years from anywhere worth talking about, and generally a not very important place.

But Mert's demons had figured out long ago that Earth was the planet, if any, that they would claim their bounty from.

There is a certain amount of irony in that sentence, because in fact the bounty that Mert's demons obsessed about was a bounty hunter. They'd looked for him for nearly a century, and if you consider just how huge space is, you'll know how deeply lucky they were that Mert was stupid enough to accidentally land on Rose Tyler's doorstep.

Mert sat in his rather ugly throne made of the bones of his more unlucky advisors, waiting for his demons to get in contact. Sure enough, there was a strange and uncomfortable scrabbling feeling in his limited brain.

I say demons in the plural because there were two of them, Kyishi and Phnom. It was Kyishi who spoke first.

"_Hello Mert," _it said in a gentle, rather feminine voice. _"How are you?"_

Mert had to concede that he was slightly confused. "I sent for the girl, but she hasn't arrived yet."

"_Don't worry about that Mert," _said Phnom reassuringly. Mert liked to think of Phnom as a more male entity. _"You don't have to worry about anything, so long as you follow our instructions."_

"That's rather comforting," admitted Mert, mopping his brow. He stroked his beard thoughtfully, beginning to relax. "To be honest, I haven't had a very wonderful day. I had to fire and kill another two of my advisors because they said something coarse and mean about my tie, and then I ripped my sports jacket on a nail. The chocolate ran out as well."

"_Ah yes, the goods you obtained from the Earth Search," _cooed Kyishi. _"Don't worry, if you bring us our bounty we will give you the Earth, and all the ties, sports jackets and chocolate in it will be yours."_

"That's very reassuring," said Mert, feeling much more confident. "Now, when the girl arrives, what should I do?"

"_You must remember that her name is Rose Tyler,"_ scolded Phnom. _"The Earth man is Captain Jack Harkness, and the Time Lord is the Doctor. Please make an effort to remember those names."_

"Yes, of course," said Mert quickly.

"_Mert, you must remember that you are very special," _said Kyishi.

"I am?"

"_Very special," _agreed Phnom. _"You are the only person we could have picked for this job. Your skills in intimidation alone would be enough for us to choose you. But in the end, it was not us that chose you Mert. You were destined to rule the Earth, and everything in it. You are the Chosen One."_

Now, while Mert amuses himself with some pleasant daydreams, I must stress that everything Phnom just told Mert is untrue. Mert is not destined or 'chosen', he's a small fat ugly red being that can barely be classed as sentient, that luckily had an ego large enough to support Phnom and Kyishi's plans, and enough empty space in his head for them to inhabit. And he will also not be receiving all the ties, sports jackets and chocolate in the Earth because if his demons' plans go well, there will be no Earth left.

What Mert would never guess, and would probably never understand, is that Phnom and Kyishi were not demons.

In fact, I think you'll all be surprised to find out they were Higher Beings from another dimension.

These Higher Beings were rather angry with the Time Lords.

Not only had the Time Lords banished them to that other dimension for apparently 'meddling in other planets' affairs and generally being evil', but they'd then had the indecency to go and die out before they could be properly punished. There was only one left now, one puny little Time Lord to receive two centuries of revenge.

Kyishi and Phnom were also the last of their kind due to them all falling out and destroying each other, and they felt they had a score to settle. They would start with Earth, taking particular care with Rose Tyler and Captain Jack Harkness.

And they would make whatever they did to them _his fault_.

Suddenly one of Mert's advisors rushed in. He had about fifty of these left, since he kept falling out with them and destroying them. His throne was getting rather large.

"The Time Lord's craft has arrived, Emperor," he said, bowing so low his beard scraped the floor. Then he scuttled away again, but backwards. Mert insisted on it. He found it sadistically amusing.

So he would send for the Time Lord and his little ape friends. And he would make them suffer, and he would gain the Earth.

Mert was thick as a brick. But stupid people, when they're angry, are infinitely more dangerous that intelligent people.

And Mert had demons.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

_I remember it like it was yesterday._

_I was sat in mum's flat. I still called it that, even though it was years since she'd lived there. Nothing had changed inside it except me I suppose. I wasn't the girl I had been, once upon a time._

_I wasn't doing anything special, just watching TV with Mickey. Our relationship had changed. He didn't love me, didn't want to anymore. He'd moved on, but I guess he was as close to a human friend I still had. The rest had got sick of me._

_Everyone gets sick of me._

_It was so loud, like an explosion, but inside your head. Mert boasted afterwards that everyone within a mile radius would have heard it; the sound of hyperspace ripping open and spitting out a space ship. It made the TARDIS seem quiet in comparison._

_But that's what I thought it was, the TARDIS, at first at least. I could tell from Mickey's face he thought the same as we ran down into the courtyard. A grey cylinder was wedged into the ground, slightly at an angle, smoke rising from it. I'll never forget the man who strode out of it like the world was his own._

_Red skin, four arms, stupid beard. And mean as a snake._

_I don't know how to describe it, but it was like this unseen power emanated from him. It seeped out of every pore, glowed in his orange eyes. It made me frightened of him. Hell, I've never been so frightened of anything in my whole, screwed up life. He didn't say a word, but I felt myself trembling, heard Mickey leave, yelling for me to follow. I couldn't. I was enchanted by absolute and utter terror._

_I began to plead. I was disgusted with myself afterwards, but I'm disgusted with myself for other reasons too, so what's one more? So I pleaded for my life, for him to take me to see the stars again, for him to return me to my Doctor._

_As soon as I said the word 'Doctor', something about him changed. He seemed…excited. Like he'd found something._

_He granted my second wish, only my second. He took me to one planet, one far off, beautiful planet._

_But I couldn't enjoy it because he was there, and to be with him was to be afraid. I heard him whispering to himself that night, terrible whispers, and begged to be taken home._

_But he took me to his own planet instead. Then he drugged me, and dumped me back on Earth. When I came round there was a shaved patch on my skull and a scar. Because I knew the Doctor, and I was valuable. I had to have tabs kept on me._

_Mickey was waiting for me. His face was pale, frightened. He told me to turn Mert in, said he was dangerous. Unluckily for him, Mert had chosen that moment to tune into Rose FM, courtesy of the chunk of metal in my head. He came back, and they had an argument._

_Mert hit him, and would have killed him himself, but Mickey was too fast. He barricaded himself in his flat before Mert could even get up the stairs._

_So we struck a deal. Me and Mert._

_I had to kill Mickey._

_If I didn't, Mert would take me to some alien planet and leave me there for good. He could track me 24/7 now. There was nowhere I could run to and be safe._

_That wouldn't have scared me completely, but Mert had changed. When I refused, his mouth stretched until it was a gaping maw, lined with row upon row of teeth. He roared above my screaming, growing taller, meaner, with thick yellow claws. He smelled like fire, like the sizzle of flesh, like a hedgehog trapped in a bonfire._

_And I could see the pits of Hell in his eyes._

_My fear made me kill Mickey Smith._

_My weak-minded, human fear._

_And I will regret it until the day I die, and see those pits of Hell for myself._

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Durn durn durn! Review or be pollinated!

(does sexy little Dalek twisty dance)


	5. Mertopia

**Bounty Part Five**

**Notes: **I do apologise for the extreme wait…betcha can't remember what this is about, can you? (giggles) Well, I hope you still read and enjoy it. Big thanks to Dr Azaria for all her help. I've been picking her brain somewhat because the next few chapters will be difficult for me. I have extreme writers block AND I've got to somehow bridge the gap between Rose and the Doctor and Jack. (Dr Azaria: Who cares about Jack? Eevee: **I **care about Jack!) Yay. So I want lots of sympathy in review form please.

Of course, I can't to review responses here anymore, so from this day forward I will be making use of that dinky little 'review reply' feature. I'm not saying I like it, but a response is better than no response. So, any new reviews will get 'review replies'!

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Rose bit her lip ferociously and scowled as she felt the TARDIS land. Jack watched her silently, wondering what she was thinking. The Doctor didn't look at her at all.

"Let's go," he said, avoiding her glare, but feeling it on the back of his neck as he marched for the door.

Dust. Dust had settled everywhere on this rock, untouched and undisturbed due to the lack of wind. There was a domed clear roof above them, and beyond that, far-off stars. There was no atmosphere to get in the way, so they blazed down on them as they looked around.

"Sack the decorator," commented Jack. The building was bare and empty where it wasn't covered in grime and the occasional bone.

Suddenly a klaxon screeched out, seeming to emanate from the walls themselves. Rose's tracker decided to give a painful twinge, making her clutch her head automatically. Whilst Jack tried to comfort her, the Doctor stared straight ahead as Praztofs filled the room.

"Take me to Mert," he demanded. The nearest Praztof grinned slyly.

"Of course," he said, licking his lips as he watched them, his eyes resting on Rose as she swatted Jack away. "This way."

As they followed, the Doctor finally allowed himself to look at Rose. She was white, completely white, as if all the colour had drained from her face. She chewed her lip, then caught him staring.

"Stop it," she muttered.

"Are you alright?" he asked patiently.

"Never been better," she said, spitting out the words. Jack rolled his eyes.

"God Rose, let down some defences already," he said before he could stop himself.

"Silence!" commanded one of the Praztofs. Unsurprisingly, none of them paid any attention. Rose quickly retorted.

"You shouldn't have come," she hissed. "You're both idiots. You'll be killed. It's me he wants."

"On the contrary," drawled a slow voice. Rose stiffened. They had reached the throne room. "Your usefulness has just about ended. It's him I want," said Mert, extending a gnarled finger towards the Doctor, who just stared stonily back.

"I've come to negotiate," he announced. "Remove the tracker."

"And what will I gain from that?" he asked, looking highly amused.

"You won't be turned in to the Time Agency," said the Doctor coolly. "You won't be charged for the murder of your associates, I presume those _are _their bones?" He paused, but Mert didn't reply; he was watching him carefully. "You won't be taken back to your people for punishment. Which I gather would be rather more severe than exile."

A flicker of worry passed across Mert's face, but he quickly composed himself. "I care not. We…I…simply wish to see _you _punished for your injustices."

"Rose, are you OK?" muttered Jack. She was sweating, her eyes never leaving Mert. He reached out a hand to her and she didn't push him away, just stood there, transfixed by…fear? Was she afraid? He laid a hand on her arm. She was trembling.

"Against who?" challenged the Doctor.

"_Against usss_!" screamed two inhuman voices as Mert's demons lost their patience.

Mert's mouth was open and working, but it was clearly not he who spoke. Rose screamed as his mouth grew wider, exposing layers of gleaming, blood stained teeth. Jack looked alarmed at this sudden change in her as she abandoned all pretences and cowered in his arms.

"Doctor!" he called out, trying to draw his attention to the clearly distressed girl who was shaking violently in his grasp. But the Doctor stood his ground, staring right into Mert's eyes…

There were _creatures _in them…writhing, screaming, reaching out to him…

"Who are you?" he called out harshly.

"We are the Tamathans," they said calmly, assuming a more pleasant voice that implied they were trying to keep their fierce temper in check. They barely managed it. Kyishi and Phnom felt they had _a lot _to be angry about. Mert's face shrank back to normal proportions, but his eyes still seemed to hold swirling demons. He stood, in some sort of trance, as the Tamathans used his body. The Doctor thought back to the Gelth and wondered what these new shadows wanted. "And we very much owe you something, Time Lord."

"Owe you what?" asked Jack, looking baffled. He stared at the Doctor, who had all his attention fixed on Mert.

"Revenge for our imprisonment," they said. "The Time Lords…they banished us, our whole race. We are the only two left, and you are the only one. It stands to reason Doctor…you will be punished…"

"Remove the tracker!" yelled the Doctor.

"And what if we do?" they asked slyly, still in unison, although it was just about possible to separate a female voice from a male voice.

"I'll tell you what'll happen if you don't," he said, bringing out one of Jack's lasers (which had not recently been retrieved from a certain part of Jack's anatomy…it had been on his bedside table. So there).

"Hey!" Jack yelled indignantly.

"Seize him," said the Tamathans, sounding positively delighted that the Doctor had given them a good reason to do so. The Praztofs still surrounding them sprang into action.

"Oh no you don't," warned the Doctor. "You need Mert's body. Destroy it, and you go back to your own slimy little dimension."

"And what if that is true? Not to sound clichéd, but you know full well you won't escape from this rock," they said, laughing at him.

"Prepared to make a gamble?" he asked them, aiming the weapon. Jack took a moment to wonder when exactly the Doctor had stopped loathing guns, and started using them. "Remove the tracker."

There was silence for a moment. Rose looked on, terrified. This was a nightmare, but it was one she was glad she wasn't facing alone. She watched the Doctor carefully, who showed no signs of bluffing.

"Hold your fire," they said at last. "We will destroy the tracker."

"How?" he asked suspiciously, but Mert's hand had already signalled to one of his henchmen, who approached Rose, a distinctly sharp tool in hand. "No, it can't be cut out, I already checked."

"It cannot be cut out in its solid form," explained the Tamathans. "Our technology will make it a liquid. It is without doubt more advanced than your pathetic tools. Still using chisels Doctor?" He ignored their goading, watching Rose carefully.

Rose gritted her teeth as the Praztof thrust the instrument into her scalp, biting her already swollen lip to stop herself crying out. The device buzzed much like the sonic screwdriver but in a less friendly way, and Jack was half amazed, half horrified to see a metallic silver liquid seeping from Rose's head. The wound was closed, and the Praztof resumed his former, watchful position.

"You OK Rose?" whispered Jack.

"That hurt," she said, drawing deep breaths. "A _lot_."

"Thank you," said the Doctor politely. "We'll be going now."

The Doctor was surrounded and grabbed before he could react, a hand crushing his wrist and forcing him to drop the weapon. Jack tried to somehow will it his way, but of course, it remained stationary.

"Your debt just keeps on growing Time Lord," said the Tamathans. Mert gave a little whimper, and for a moment he seemed to look around for an escape route. Then he froze again.

"Sssshhh," said the Tamathans soothingly. "You've been a good boy Mert. Hold on a little longer."

The Doctor and Jack exchanged glances, but nothing more as Mert's demons regained control.

"We will destroy the humans," they announced.

"Leave them out of this!" snarled the Doctor, trying to break free.

The Tamathans laughed, a high, cold shriek that betrayed their true natures, their pleasant voices discarded. "Not just them. _All _humans."

The Doctor froze, terror etched onto his face. "No," he said in a strangled voice. "I won't let you."

They laughed again. "And it will be _your fault_."

They dragged him away, the remainder taking hold of Rose and Jack, who had started to protest. Rose sank her teeth into one of the hands holding her and almost managed to wriggle free, but was caught again by her hair. She screamed in pain and shock, forced to do a sort of trot to keep up with the marching Praztofs. Jack tried to reach one of his weapons, hoping to somehow surprise them and gain the upper hand, but his arms were well and truly pinned.

The Doctor flashed a grin at his companions, hoping to comfort them. His attempt fell rather flat though, his eyes betraying his anxiety. But he'd starting planning. The Tamathans had a weakness, and he could exploit it.

It was his ability to do so that had made him a good bounty hunter.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"_Ahhh, money," said Jack happily. "I could roll around naked in a big room of it."_

"_You don't need money as an excuse to roll around naked," commented the Doctor, who was checking their various bank accounts._

"_You know you're tempted to join me," teased Jack. "This job is so easy!" He stretched. "Easier than being a con artist was, now that I've got all this lovely technology." He gestured at the TARDIS._

"_Don't get cocky Jack," said the Doctor. "This lovely technology will always be mine, and mine alone. I could chuck you out whenever I wanted to."_

"_Ahh, but you won't. You must admit my flair for charm and fashion, and my innate sense of humour come in handy," he replied._

"_You have your uses." The Doctor scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. Our next man hasn't been paying his bills, despite the large sum of money he nicked."_

"_Time for a little visit from the repo man," guessed Jack correctly. "And I've found a mark who will _definitely _fall for the Harkness charm. I'll go get changed." The Doctor didn't want to ask what he would be changing into. _

_As Jack passed, he grinned at the Time Lord. "Me and you Doc. We make a _fabulous _team."_

_The Doctor forced a grin. They did make a fabulous team. In fact, they were excellent at their job. And that's what scared him the most._

……………………………………………………………………………………………

So…enough for some reviews? Hope you liked it.


	6. Jack Plays a Harmonica

**Bounty Part Six**

**Notes:** The song is by KT Tunstall. This chapter will be called Jack Plays A Harmonica. I think that it's high time there was some humour in this fic, am I right?

……………………………………………………………………………………………

_Over the sea and far away  
She's waiting like an iceberg  
Waiting to change  
But she's cold inside  
She wants to be like the water_

Rose was refusing to ask where Jack had produced a harmonica from because she really didn't want to know. She felt like telling him to shut up, or some such insult, but he was actually pretty good. Blues-y. Wondering where he'd acquired this particular skill, she allowed herself the luxury of a smile.

"Gotcha," said Jack happily, grinning at her as he lowered the instrument. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist."

"Very mature Jack," she said irritably, stretching. Sitting was better than standing, but after a while it hurt just as much when you were sat on concrete. Her back would hurt tomorrow. Well, if she actually lived until tomorrow. _Dramatic_, she thought, _but probably accurate_.

"Wonder what's happening to him," thought Jack aloud. "I can't imagine it'll be very pleasant."

"I told you not to come," she repeated. Her mind wandered.

The Doctor. In pain. Alone…

"I hope—" She stopped. _Don't go there Rose. Don't let them hurt you again._

"Yeah, I hope he's OK too," replied Jack lazily. He knew what she'd been thinking. It didn't take a genius to work out how concerned she was. Classic body language. Furrowed brow, hunched over… "But there's not much we can do," he continued.

"I just can't believe Mert got the better of me again," she said without really meaning to.

_All the muscles tighten in her face  
Buries her soul in one embrace   
They're one and the same  
Just like water_

Jack didn't say anything for a moment, just studied her face. She could feel his eyes on her skin.

"What did he do Rose?" he asked eventually. "You were terrified today."

"What does it matter to you?" she snapped harshly. She lowered her head.

"He didn't…he didn't hurt you?" Jack's eyes suddenly turned serious and solemn. And there he was again, the man behind the flirting and teasing who had always acted like her big brother, always tried to protect her.

"Jack, he barely laid a finger on me," she said, smiling. "But I was never very good with horror films, and the way he…changes…it just pushed me over the edge. And it's not like I've been in the best state mentally," she added dryly.

"The guy's possessed," he reminded her. "Ever seen The Exorcist? Possession is never pretty."

He shuffled a bit closer to her. "And just 'cause you were scared, doesn't mean you're a coward. I think you're brave."

"Thanks," she muttered. She smiled again. "This is just like the old days isn't it? Bunged in a cell."

"Yep." He stretched out, stroking the concrete almost fondly. "Good times."

"I almost missed this y'know," she admitted.

"Me too," he said, smiling. "And the Doctor?" he probed gently.

She sniffed. "Maybe I miss him too," she said grudgingly.

Jack pulled her into a hug. And for once, Rose didn't pull away.

_The fire fades away  
Most of everyday  
Is full of tired excuses   
But it's to hard to say  
I wish it were simple  
But we give up easily  
You're close enough to see that  
You're the other side of the world to me_

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" asked the Doctor grimly, his chest heaving. They'd chained him up, Mert and his little friends, and now they were running electrical currents through him. Not enough for him to regenerate, but enough to cause a lot of pain. But somehow, it wasn't making him weaker. It was just pissing him off.

"Well it almost seems like _you _are Doctor," said the Tamathans through their little puppet. "No screaming, no begging…no 'help me, help me, it's hurting'…" Mert grinned sadistically as the demons' voices grew soft, and dangerous.

"I have one question though," said the Doctor, his breathing heavy and uneven. "Why electricity?"

"Well Mert got rather fond of pillaging," they said in a carefree voice. "And we thought electricity was quite a good idea for a race so primitive. We've been dying to try it out ever since. And don't forget, you're just a warm up, something to get us in the mood..." They laughed. "Soon we'll bring out your human friends."

"The Time Lords were right to banish you," he spat. "And doesn't it make your blood boil, knowing that?" His chains creaked as he stained against them, trying to really get in Mert's face. To an outsider, he looked like a man with a death wish.

Mert leant against a lever and the Doctor shuddered, his eyes rolling up into his head as electricity surged through him. "Oh, clumsy me," said the Tamathans, making Mert grin.

"You're _pathetic_!" yelled the Doctor. He glared at Mert, breathing heavily. It was beginning to work though. The Tamathans were getting angry, and Mert was getting restless.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it," he said, scratching at his head feverishly. "It's hurting, get out…"

"_SILENCE!_" screamed the Tamathans, and Mert cried out as his face began to stretch, demons fluttering in his eyes.

The Doctor smiled cruelly. "Looks like you're losing control." Electricity surged through him, but he was past caring. He grinned, laughing now. "You're finished, Tamathans…did you think you'd be able to keep it up? Fumbling your way into this dimension uninvited, did you think you'd be able to stay? You're losing your grip."

"Aren't you losing yours?" asked the Tamathans, throwing open the lever again and laughing as he jerked, his mouth open and screaming. They released the lever and his head flopped onto his chest, defeated for the moment.

"Get the humans," ordered the Tamathans. "I think he could use some company."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"…So I end up completely naked, surrounded by nuns, who start _praying _for my soul…it was complete madness."

Rose felt weak from laughing. "Nuns?"

"Fifty of 'em," said Jack proudly. "And I'd slept with ten by the end of the week."

"You devil child!" gasped Rose, teasing him. They were interrupted by the clank of a key in the lock. The heavy iron door was pulled slightly ajar.

"You two. Out," grunted a Praztof.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Time Lord? Doctor?"

He raised his head and peered into the darkened room as it came into focus. Mert was sat behind the control panel with that cursed lever on it. He was shaking.

"What?" said the Doctor, his voice hoarse and dull.

"I'm scared," he said. "They're in my head. It itches…" He whimpered, scratching his skull.

"Release my friends and I'll help you," he growled. "Otherwise, I don't care."

"They're coming back, they'll hurt them," said Mert, his voice trembling. "Do you care about that?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't care about much anymore Mert," he said wearily.

"Awww. Poor Doctor," said the Tamathans, regaining control of Mert. He got up, stretching. "That feels better. We almost lost you then, didn't we? Thinking about bargaining with our prisoners? _Never do it again!_"

"You're losing him," warned the Doctor. "You keep wasting the energy you have on those pathetic transformations, and pretty soon you'll run out completely."

"Oh, so _that's _your little game," they said. They turned Mert's head as Rose and Jack were marched in, then focused their attention back on him. "Trying to get us angry."

"Doesn't matter what I do," he said. "You're going to lose anyway. You were banished by the Time Lords. And as long as one of us still lives, you will never escape. You're playing with ancient fire."

"No Doctor, _you _are playing with fire," they replied, grinning. "And your little friends, and their precious planet of apes, are about to get burnt."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"_An arsonist," said the Doctor, standing over a middle aged, slightly balding human man who was staring in fear at the TARDIS. "Not what we usually get. But people don't usually set fire—"_

"_Look, whoever you are, it wasn't me!" cried the man, his voice trembling._

"_Look, whoever you are, I know for certain that it was! So stop lying to me," he said, getting out some handcuffs._

"_Y-you can't take me to prison. You're not a police officer," he said._

"_No. I'm a bounty hunter. We're much worse," said the Doctor grinning. _

"_I have a w-wife and children!" he said desperately. The Doctor paused._

"_Children?"_

"_Yes! Two of them," he said. "I'm their world. If you take me away, they're as good as dead!"_

"_And how many people do you think you killed when you set fire to your boss's house? All the people at that dinner party. Their children, their families…Don't you think he had children too?" asked the Doctor coolly._

"_He deserved it, the jackass! He fired me!" The man spat on the ground._

"_Hmm, interesting choice of words," mused the Doctor, locking the man's arms behind his back. "Well let me tell you what happens if you play with fire. You get burnt."_

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Bit of nasty insane Doctor there…I guess I was drawing on some of the stuff from Dalek. That really frightened me, that episode. (shudder) Scary Doctor. Now it's time to review…or face POLLINATION by my remote controlled Dalek, Hilary. (Yes, he does the sexy Dalek twisty dance, and a very nice booty he has too)

And a special note to all you folks in America and Australia and the like who haven't seen it…the Christmas special was bloody fantastic…(laughs her head off)

See you in the next dimension…don't be late!


	7. Regeneration

**Bounty Part Seven**

**Notes: **Last part. Hope everything gets wrapped up sufficiently. A little bit of shippyness but as always, I leave you hanging. Lots of implied stuff though. And…some of you have been hoping that Mickey didn't die…

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Try as she might to retain her nonchalant image, Rose couldn't help gasping when she saw the Doctor. They were in another ugly room, bare and grey and dark. But somehow this place felt different. There was a sickening, burning smell in the air, and the room held lost memories of pain and despair that raised goose bumps on her arms.

Chains were fastened at regular intervals around the walls, driven into the concrete. And hanging from some of these, his arms stretched out like some grotesque puppet, was the last remaining Time Lord. They'd put metal bands around his wrists and ankles. Feeling sick, Rose followed with her eyes the wires that connected them to a control panel. Mert was sat behind it, regarding them impassively.

"He's not—"

"No," said Jack, staring at his friend. "He's breathing."

The Doctor looked up at the sound of their voices. His mouth opened as he tried to form words, but no sound came out.

"Look at those burns," said Jack in horror. "Electrical burns."

"You're sick," said Rose, turning on Mert. "Let him go! _Let him go!_"

"Gag her or something please," said the Tamathans lazily. Rose was seized by the guards who had escorted her there.

"Leave her alone!" bellowed Jack, trying to prise their grip away.

"Gag them _both_!" said the Tamathans. "They're giving us headaches. And chain them up. We need to begin."

"Begin what?" started Jack, but the Praztofs shoved a rag in his mouth, muffling his words.

"Going to kill them Mert?" asked the Doctor hollowly.

"Well, no," replied the Tamathans, seeming to take great delight in revealing Rose and Jack's fate. "We thought of something better for the moment. After all, we need permanent bodies, and theirs do look so…adequate. Less crowded than Mert's anyway."

For once, the Doctor was speechless. But not for long. Straining against the chains, he summoned all his five billion languages and started calling the Tamathans the worst words he could think of.

"Temper temper," they said, chuckling.

"You have no idea," he promised, snarling at them.

"Right, are they secure?" the Tamathans asked the guards. "Then you can go. We'd like some privacy for this."

The guards left dutifully. The Tamathans started humming cheerfully as Mert approached Rose and Jack.

"Now then children, let's all hold hands," they said, laughing. They took hold of Rose and Jack, crushing their clenched fists.

"This isn't a good idea you know," said the Doctor's voice from behind them.

"Yes, we had a feeling you'd say that," sighed the Tamathans. "This is the part where you swear revenge, isn't it? The thing is, it's tricky to exact revenge when you're dead."

"Have it your way," he said, shrugging. "This'll all end in tears. They won't be mine."

"_Shut up!_" screamed the Tamathans. Mert grinned at Rose and Jack. They glared right back. "Now then. Ready to start?"

Rose tried not to scream as Mert's face stretched and transformed. But this time, the demons that were swirling in his eyes didn't stay there. Rose could feel them creeping up her arm, tugging at the corners of her mind. She tried to wrench her arm away but they just kept coming, screaming in her ears. Screaming…

……………………………………………………………………………………………

_There was a scuffling sound as a key turned in the lock. Mickey looked up from the TV, slightly annoyed that this visitor had interrupted Scrubs._

_Only, it wasn't a visitor. Only a few people had spare keys to his flat. His mate Stan. His parents. And the Tylers._

"_Rose? Rose are you OK?" She was shaking badly, tears running down her face, leaving black streaks on her skin. Her eyes were red and swollen as if she'd been crying for a while._

_He reached out to help her. That's when he saw the gun._

"_Rose, what…what have you done?" he asked, thinking the worst. He didn't know the worst was still to come._

_She wouldn't speak. He called her name again, beginning to feel nervous._

_She raised the gun._

"_What did he do to you? What did he do?" Mickey said, panicking. "Rose, whatever it is we can deal with it. Just put the gun _down_!"_

_Her hands shook violently as she pulled the trigger._

_He screamed._

_She was stood over him._

_He was losing too much blood._

_Another shot was fired but Mickey had already passed out._

_With his last breath he loved her. Dependable Mickey Smith, the one who she'd come back to long after the Doctor had gone. He would always love her. He would always forgive her._

_By the time the credits rolled at the end of Scrubs, Rose had gone._

……………………………………………………………………………………………

But then it stopped.

Rose opened her eyes.

"_What's happening?_" screeched the Tamathans, and for the first time they sounded like they were panicking.

"Get out, get out, _get out_!" yelled Mert, scratching at his face and howling. He fell to his knees.

"_Doctor, what did you do?_" screamed the Tamathans, and they weren't in Mert's body anymore. They swirled around his head like ghosts or bats, all the time getting smaller and smaller. There was a terrible screaming and Rose squeezed her eyes shut.

When she opened them, the Tamathans had gone, leaving Mert huddled alone on the floor, sobbing.

An empty silence echoed around the room, punctured only by Mert's strangled sobs.

"Is it over?" whispered Rose, cradling her sore hand awkwardly. Jack reached for her other, hindered slightly by the manacles, but she wouldn't take it. She subconsciously moved towards the Doctor, her eyes never leaving Mert.

"Mert, let me go," said the Doctor at last, and Rose and Jack were amazed to see him do just that.

"What happened?" asked Jack as the Doctor snatched his jacket up, feeling in the pockets for the sonic screwdriver.

"Mert, where did my jumper go?" he asked. No reply. Whatever scrap of sanity Mert used to have, the demons had evidently taken it with them, and he was in no state to answer. The Doctor shrugged and just put on his jacket, unlocking the manacles around his companions' wrists.

"What was that?" asked Rose, who was feeling a little shaken.

"That Rose, is what happens if you try and beat a Time Lord at his own game," he said, grinning. "The Tamathans would never have been able to stay in this dimension while I still lived. As long as there is a living Time Lord, they're banished. And they wouldn't just kill me, would they? They wanted me to suffer…well, that's what happens if you seek revenge I suppose."

He smiled. She looked none the wiser. "Think of it like an elastic band. They could just about stretch into this dimension, but the moment they pull too hard, _snap_!"

"They tried to get into us," said Jack, understanding what the Doctor meant. Rose nodded to show she understood.

"They bit off more than they could chew," said the Doctor. "They got too ambitious. And now they won't be coming back."

"But they're not dead?" asked Rose worriedly.

"They're not dead. But they won't be back, I promise," he said. "The moment we get back to the TARDIS, I'm sealing the dimensional hole they crawled through. We've seen the last of them Rose."

"Pity you had to go through all that first," said Jack, nodding at the burns on the Doctor's chest.

"It happens," he said, shrugging. "Are you two alright?"

"I think some of the bones in my hand might be broken," said Rose, who was cradling her left hand.

"He had quite a grip," added Jack.

"OK, let's get back to the TARDIS and sort that out now then," said the Doctor. "And I think I might need some help with the burns on my back. I can feel them." He wriggled uncomfortably in his coat.

"I'll do it," said Rose suddenly, surprising even herself. She flushed a little as they both stared at her. "I mean, if you want me to," she added defensively.

"Thank you," said the Doctor. He looked around the room, his eyes resting on the alien huddled in the corner. "Rose…"

She looked at Mert. She thought about everything he'd made her do. But just in time she remembered that maybe it hadn't been entirely his fault. And at that moment, she felt she could pity him.

The Doctor watched her face intently, watched her make up her mind. In the moment she smiled and followed him back to the TARDIS, he knew she was different. In a way, this was Rose's regeneration. She wasn't the person she'd been before her mother had died, she wasn't the person who'd killed Mickey Smith. This was a new Rose Tyler, untried and untested. He wondered what sort of person she'd be. He grinned. "And Jack can make some tea."

"Oh gee, thanks Doc," he drawled. "Because I love fulfilling your tea fetish."

"I do not have a fetish!" he protested, disappearing into his ship.

Rose laughed as she stepped through the door, shutting it carefully behind her.

Crouched in the shadows, watching them from a corner, Mert looked on as the TARDIS faded away. He giggled and started singing. When some other Praztofs found him a couple of hours later, he'd gone completely insane.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Doctor, we've got a call from Rodger," said Jack, poking his head around the door of the medical room. The Doctor was just tying off a bandage around Rose's hand.

"That healed quickly," Rose marvelled.

"What can I say? I'm a Doctor," he said, chuckling. "Keep the bandage on for support, and don't do any heavy lifting."

"Doctor?" Jack waved impatiently from the door. "I think it's about another job."

He looked up immediately, undecided for the moment. He glanced at Rose, this new, fresh Rose, and seemed to make up his mind.

"We're not taking it," he said firmly. If Rose had changed, so would he.

Jack grinned and clattered away down the corridor.

"Y'know, in all this time …there's something you never told me," Rose said slowly. "Why did you and Jack become bounty hunters in the first place?" He sighed. In the light of one lonely lamp, he looked older than she'd ever seen him before.

"Jack wonders the same thing I think," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"It makes sense in a way," she said hesitantly. "From the right angle, it's sort of righteous."

"It was a job," he said honestly, focusing his grey eyes on her. "I didn't have the heart to just wander anymore. Jack was happy I suppose because we got to travel and explore and have adventures." He paused. "And I just wasn't happy. But sometimes, when I was chasing some alien criminal it felt like the old days. And then, just for a moment, I could pretend I was."

"That's funny. All I ever did back at home was pretending," she said, fiddling with her bandage. "Did it help?"

"Not at all."

"Me neither." The shared a smile.

"So what happens next Doctor? Happily ever after?" she teased, but her heart wasn't really in it.

"Up to you," he said seriously. "I know Jack would want you to stay."

"Yeah, but what about you?" she asked.

He paused. "Rose, all I ever wanted was for you to stay with me."

"Even after…" She couldn't finish. Her voice was low, barely a whisper. "I'm a bad person now…I've done so much…"

She dropped her head, picking at her bandage. He smiled and cupped one side of her face in his hand, making her look at him.

"You are still Rose Tyler," he said firmly. "You are still that brave, fantastic woman I chose so long ago, just as much as I'm still me. We might have hidden away under things we've done, but in the end we are all who we are." He smiled again as she brought her hand to his, their fingers entwining. "No matter how much we appear to have changed."

She smiled gratefully. A silence fell, and she squirmed, feeling uncomfortable. "So d'you think I should go blonde again?" she teased.

He laughed, then started playing with her hair, marvelling at how soft it was. "Your hair looks beautiful whatever you do to it," he said, not meaning to speak aloud. He suddenly realised what he'd done and dropped it, feeling foolish. He prayed he wasn't blushing. She laughed at how self-conscious he looked.

"Yep, you're definitely still you," she said triumphantly. She looked at him coyly. "You never were very good at…dancing."

"I've got the moves."

"Then show me your moves." They laughed. Rose gripped his hand, remembering it.

"We'll be OK, you and me, won't we?" she asked, knowing she was close to tears.

He kissed her forehead. "Always."

Rose finally allowed herself to cry for what could have been. She cried as her Doctor held her because things could have been different. And she cried because she thought it would never be the same.

But the Doctor, who understood more about Time than this beautiful, precious human ever could, simply smiled. He smiled because he knew things could be…_better_.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Rodger was wrong.

_As soon as he realised she'd gone, Mickey grabbed a towel and tied it around the top of his injured thigh, trying to stop or at least slow the bleeding. Panting with effort, he managed to drag himself towards the phone._

He watched Mickey go down. He didn't see him come back up.

"_Ambulance," he gasped, watching his heart pump his blood away. He gave his address through cries of agony. "I've been shot. No…I didn't see his face," he lied. Because maybe he did still love Rose. And even if she'd…well, he'd still protect her, with everything he had left._

Rose was a lousy shot. She only ever hit him in the thigh. The second shot…she was crying. Shaking. She hadn't seen properly, and then she'd bolted like a frightened animal.

_The paramedics loaded him onto a stretcher._

"_Don't worry mate," said one. "You'll be fine."_

Mickey recovered…

The Doctor shot bolt upright in bed and ran to the control room. Hacking into the coroner's office, he searched for a name. It was possible, just possible.

_Mickey Smith…two shot wounds …dead on arrival._

Mickey Smith had died because of him, because of his long dead race. He was yet another in a long trail of the dead that seemed to follow the Doctor everywhere. An innocent man who'd helped him save the world, who in another lifetime he could have befriended.

He sighed. Some things were possible, some probable even. But some things would always be just a hopeful dream.

"Rest in peace Mickey," he said quietly. "Rest in peace."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

END

(sniff)


End file.
